'Catch a predator' trend: 6 Massachusetts college students charged in man's ambush

Six Massachusetts college students are being accused of using the dating app Tinder to lure an unsuspecting man to campus and assault him as part of a “catch a predator” fad on TikTok, police say.

The Assumption University students are being charged primarily with kidnapping and conspiracy charges in the plot that police say was inspired by NBC's "To Catch a Predator," according to a Dec. 4 criminal complaint obtained by Paste BN on Monday.

The man who police say was lured to the central Massachusetts campus told police that he was talking to a student on Tinder and that she invited him to meet her. While they were in a lounge area in the campus' alumni hall, the man told police that a group of people came out of nowhere, started calling him a pedophile and accused him of liking 17-year-old girls.

The man says that the group surrounded him and ended up chasing him to his car, and that he was punched in the head and had his car door slammed on him before he was able to flee.

Here's what you need to know about the case, including what the university has to say, what the students told police and what the "catch a predator" trend is.

What did the students tell police?

Police identified five of the students charged: Kelsy Brainard, Kevin Carroll, Joaquin Smith and Isabella Trudeau, all 18; and Easton Randall, 19. The sixth student charged is under 18 and was not identified.

Brainard told Residence Life workers that a man "just came to campus, made (her) feel creepy, and she texted a friend, Easton Randall, who came down to help (her) with the 'sexual predator,'" the complaint says. Randall chased the man off, she told them, the document says.

Once campus police could not find the man at the school, they received a report from Worcester police about a man who needed help with an incident that took place on Assumption University's campus, according to the complaint.

During her subsequent interview with police, they say Brainard told them that a "creepy guy" came to campus looking to meet a 17-year-old girl, according to court records. When police interviewed her a second time, she acknowledged lying, said that she did not know what was going on and blamed Randall for the incident, the complaint says.

Randall told police that "catch a predator" is big on TikTok, but this incident "got out of hand and went bad," according to the complaint. The 18-year-old also divulged that he and the other five accused students exchanged ideas on how to lure the man to the campus, including what to text him, the document said.

Paste BN contacted the students' attorneys Monday, and four of them have not responded. Brainard's attorney, Christopher Todd, declined to comment.

All six students are scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on Thursday, court records show. Brainard is also accused of intimidation, and Carroll has an additional assault and battery with a deadly weapon charge. Police say he is the one who slammed the man's head into the car door, according to the complaint.

What did surveillance footage show?

Surveillance footage of the incident showed the group of students returning to the building after the chase laughing and high-fiving each other, the document continued. The footage also captured the entire chase.

Based on the footage, campus police also determined that the incident was staged and that Brainard's story was "false and fabricated," according to the court document. In the video, police said Brainard was laughing and smiling during the encounter with the man and "does not appear to be in fear or even slightly uncomfortable."

Tinder messages between the man and Brainard also did not indicate that he was looking for underage girls to meet, police said. The man "believed he was meeting an 18-year-old girl on a college campus and using the Tinder app as it is originally designed to initiate a hookup," according to the complaint.

What is Assumption University's response?

Assumption University's campus police initially received information on Oct. 2, 2024, about a disturbance at the school's alumni hall concerning a report of assault and battery, according to the complaint.

In light of the subsequent investigation and charges against its students, university President Greg Weiner said in a statement to Paste BN that "the behavior described in the court filing is abhorrent and antithetical to Assumption University's mission and values.

"In all circumstances, we expect our students to exercise sound judgment and uphold the principles of respect, responsibility, and character that define our community," Weiner said. "Once the incident was reported, the Department of Public Safety commenced an immediate and thorough investigation − with concern for the victim at the forefront − which resulted in our Campus Police filing charges against six students."

What is the 'catch a predator' trend?

The "catch a predator" trend is based on the popular reality TV series "To Catch a Predator" featuring journalist Chris Hansen. The show aired on NBC and revolved around men arriving at a sting house to have sex with a minor. The men were usually ambushed at the homes by Hansen and law enforcement and arrested.

In November, 11 teenage boys in Illinois were arrested and charged with several felonies on suspicion of using an online dating app to lure unsuspecting men to meetups and beating them, Mount Prospect police said. The boys got the idea to lure the men through a viral social media trend they saw online, according to the department.

“We are asking parents to take these incidents as an opportunity to talk with their teenage children about the seriousness of actively participating in these types of trends they see on social media,” Mount Prospect Police Chief Michael Eterno said in a statement.